


All Roads Lead To Home

by Rainy_Day_Lemonade



Series: Supernatural Hidekane AUs [3]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Amnesiac! Haise, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Been holding onto this plot bunny for a while, Curses, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gosh this got quite angsty, Historical ambiguity, Human! Haise, I should stop tagging now, Loosely based on Japanese mythology, M/M, No betas we ride at dawn, Omg I nearly wrote the wrong Kirishima, Romance, Scarecrow God! Hide, So excited to write this, So much creative license I'm not gonna lie, Supportive! Kirishima Touka, Touka is a good egg, Touken friendship, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Touken, magical curses, please be kind, poetic prose, soft angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26173480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainy_Day_Lemonade/pseuds/Rainy_Day_Lemonade
Summary: Haise knows little of the world, and aches with the need for more.Amid the fields of grain he stumbles upon an answer to his prayers. Hide is new, and strange and wonderfully bright against the open sky. He glimmers like a perfect mirage, laughter hoarse and old as the crows.Hide knows all... For better or for worse.
Relationships: Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise & Kirishima Touka, Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Nagachika Hideyoshi, One-sided Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Kirishima Touka
Series: Supernatural Hidekane AUs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637917
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	All Roads Lead To Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hello wonderful readers! I'm so excited to be publishing this fluffy lil plot bunny- it's been lingering in my mind for MONTHS, but I haven't had the right inspiration to write it... UNTIL NOW
> 
> I needed to write Hide as the mythical/fantasy character for once. I really did. Kaneki can't have all the fun ;P
> 
> Hide's character is loosely inspired by the myth of Kuebiko, the Japanese scarecrow god of knowledge. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"Do you know what brings you here?"

Surrounded by an army of wheat, their heads swaying to some silent war song, Haise discovered a new depth in the cavity of his chest- a deep, vast _something_ that threatened to swallow his heart with a smile.   
The stranger tilted his head, still smiling with wicked teeth. His hair shone gold in the sun, long and coarse as hay. "I know you can hear me."  
Haise felt his breathing hitch, legs shaking as the stranger came closer, closer. "I know why you're here, as well. Those little flecks of doubt in your eye." Dark eyes creased at the edges, warm and otherworldly all at once. "Do _you_ know what you want?"

_... What... I want?  
Yes, I want... What I want... Is-_

"... No?" Haise licked his lips, eyes locked in place with the strange boy's face. "I, um... I don't think I do."  
The stranger seemed to hesitate, brow furrowed as though deep in thought.   
Slowly, he began to laugh, low and reverberating in the summer air. Haise barely registered a hand in his; the touch felt warm and soft as silk.   
"Well then," The god sang, eyes shining with that deep vast _something,_ "I suppose you'll have to figure it out."

"How can you know _everything?"_ _  
_ They rested their heads in the light of the sun, the grass soft beneath their weight. Haise felt out of place, like ink spilled over an intricate painting.  
The god did not seem to care. In his dirt-stained kimono, surrounded by yellows and browns, he glowed with the pride and reassurance of a man at home.  
_"Everything_ is such a vague word," He hummed, reaching a hand towards the sun. "I know of many things. Things few mortals can claim to know."  
"That answer's even vaguer." Haise muttered, shielding his eyes against the light. The god laughed.   
"A vague answer to a vague question, _Sasaki Haise_." He sang the name like a melody, low and soft as the whistling wind. It almost felt right. "You should only ask questions you truly want answered."  
This made Haise frown. What questions would interest a god of knowledge, who had surely heard more queries than the trees had birdsong?

_Who am I? What person exists in the shadows of my memory?_

__What power drew me to this field, where no farmer collects it's harvest?_  
_

Beside him, the golden-haired boy shifted, amusement bleeding through his very aura.   
It filled the human with unexpected drive. 

"What is your name?"

It was as though the world had stopped. Now face-to-face against the earth, the god studied him with a hesitant kind of wonder. A single crow cawed from above.   
Haise had lost his breath, mouth dry with trepidation. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you..."  
"Hideyoshi."

The crow circled above, still singing it's jarring song. Neither god nor human dared to move, trapped in some silent agreement.   
Slowly, the god cracked a brilliant smile. "You may call me Hide."

No villager knew of Hide the god. At least, that's what they said. No matter how Haise worded the question, tilting his head with a bashful smile, the answer was always the same. _Never heard of him,_ and a distrustful glare.   
The day faded to black, and Haise still felt hollow with his newest mystery. _As though he needed another one of those._ _  
_ Returning to his residence, his landlady met him at the door; a young woman with a stoic expression, she never smiled if she thought you'd see it.   
"Tea?"  
Her voice was gruff, but not unkind. Haise offered a smile.   
"Please."

Something about tea felt... Right. The way the cup sat snugly in the palms of his hands, the heat causing his skin to tingle.   
And Touka made the best tea in the village.   
Drunk on fatigue and the grassy smell, Haise posed his question once more.   
"Have you seen the god on the hill?"  
The air turned stone cold. The teapot clinked softly with the trembling of her hand.  
To the untrained eye, Touka's reaction was much like the others; eyes sharp, she regarded him with icy eyes.  
But Haise saw the twitch of her lips.  
"You can't just ask people about _that."_ She hissed. "Even a foreigner like you should know that."  
"How would I know if no one talks about it?"   
Touka chewed her lip. "Look... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfort-"  
"I'm not uncomfortable." She snapped, eyes darting to the teacup before her. Hesitantly, she traced a thumb around it's edge. "It's just... _He_ will find out." 

_**"I know of many things. Things few mortals can claim to know."** _

"How do you even know about him?"   
Haise blinked at the question. Touka persisted. "Have you seen him? Spoken to him?"  
He opened his mouth, an explanation on his lips... But his mouth went dry. No sound came out.   
For Touka, that was answer in itself. "Don't meddle in things you cannot understand. I don't know why... Why you would even _want_ to..." She broke off, fingers interlaced. When she met his eyes again, something new shone in their depths.   
His tea felt cold in comparison.

"I understand."

The earth was hot under the gaze of the sun, the air dry and brittle as wheat. No wind inspired the harvest to sway, yet Hide's hair ruffled softly, unnaturally.   
"Do you know how many there are?"  
Haise stumbled after the god, cheeks flushed in the heat.   
"How many what?"  
"Heads of wheat!" Hide laughed as he spun on his heels, patchwork kimono billowing around him. "Take a guess! How many do you think?"  
Throat dry, Haise craned his neck, scanning the scenery around them. Golden wheat stretched as far as the eye could see, draped like a blanket across the pastures.   
"... Five thousand."  
_"More."_  
"Ten thousand?"  
Hide snickered. "I beg your pardon," Haise grumbled, _"I'm_ not in possession of infinite knowledge."  
_"I know."_ The god grinned, hands behind his head. "Very well, I will allow you one more guess."  
Haise pouted, turning his head. This time, he closed his eyes- felt the solid ground beneath his feet, the feather-soft brush of grain against his clothes.   
An idea began to form in his mind, and he resisted the urge to smirk.   
"I know the answer."  
He opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of the disbelieving god.   
"Oh?"  
Haise allowed himself the smirk, taking a step towards the other. For the first time since their meeting, he noted Hide's build; the two were near identical in height, eyes level and trained on the other. If his smirk bothered the god, he did not show it. "What's the answer then?"  
"I see no point in telling you. It exists, right there, inside your mind."

A moment's silence. For a sliver of time, the god's hair fell flat, fringe feathering across his eyes.   
Then Hide laughed. Loud and raw, it lingered over the field like the shadow of a cloud.  
"That's cheating, _Sasaki Haise."_  
"You set no rules!"  
"I know." The god snorted, white teeth flashing; In that moment, the sun in his eyes, Haise could have mistaken him for a human.  
A beautiful, impossible human. "Congratulations, _Haise."_ Hide snickered, offering a mocking bow. "You've won my little game. What shall I grant you for a prize?"

_What is my real name? The light I see flashing behind your eyes?_

_How do you feel so familiar, though I cannot recall ever standing in your fields?_

"What is your favourite flower?"   
Hide quirks an eyebrow, teasing... Though the corner of his mouth is taut.   
"Do you intend to woo me, Haise?"  
"This is my prize, not yours." He laughed, finger reaching to scratch his chin. "And that was not an answer."

Haise left the field that day one question lighter, yet heavy as a stone. Hide watched him leave, eyes shadowed beneath the darkening sky.  
That hidden question lingered in the air.

_If I find the answers to my shadowy past... What future will I leave behind?_

Every day, Haise entered the field. Every day Hide greeted him with a wink, face muddy with secrets and dirt.

_(Every day, the question hung above their heads- never spoken, never answered. Every day, their pretended it did not exist.)_

This day, Haise came bearing flowers- sunflowers smiled merrily in his arms, heads bobbing with every step. Hide received the bouquet like a blushing bride, cooing as he inspected their petals.   
"Beautiful!" He beamed, face pressed into the gift, "Like my own personal suns!"  
Haise rather thought of him as his _own_ personal sun.   
"The shopkeeper says when they die, you can use the seeds to grow more... You can grow a field of them, if you wished."  
Behind the flowers, hidden from the human's eyes, the god's smile fell.   
"... I suppose I could." 

Haise could not remember what drew him to the field, to the enigmatic god that called it home. 

_... But I do remember... I remember the question, the question is-_

"Why do the villagers fear you?"  
Spread-eagle across the earth, Hide craned his neck up, scandalised.   
_"Me?_ I don't believe that."  
"Are you sure?" Haise continued, half-teasing, crouching down. "They tensed up at the slightest mention of this field."  
The god pouted, rubbing moodily at his nose.   
"Maybe they're scared of _you._ You and your cute face, it's too much for them."  
Haise wanted to laugh... But the sound caught in his throat. The words- though inane, absurd- echoed in his mind. 

**_Scared... Scared of you..._ **

"... Haise? Haise."  
Clarity returned to the world and Haise blinked, eyes focusing on a familiar face. Freckles like splattered mud dotted a gentle face, eyes deep and dark and- "I'm sorry."  
The words threw Haise off guard.  
"Sorry?" He echoed, anchoring himself against the ground. "Why reason do you have to be sorry?"  
Hide eyes remained locked with his, something familiar shining in his eyes... Something akin to Touka's gaze, but older... Deeper...  
"... The sky is dark."  
The god was right. The sun was sinking beneath the hills, the whispers of orange fading to black. "You must go... Go back."

Haise could say few things with certainty.  
His name.  
His history.   
His ambitions for the future.   
But there, in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to stay, to lay in darkness and rustling grain, Hide's form wrapped around him...

He left the field with words unspoken... _And, even then, Hide knew all._

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a ONE-SHOT.  
> I have no control of this plot bunny, I'm so sorry
> 
> All well... Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter coming soon!
> 
> As always, comments/kudos please the gods


End file.
